About USC Gould

USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 115-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.

Careers

We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.

Application InstructionsMaster of Comparative Law (MCL) Degree

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Apply by March 1, 2018, to receive a $75 application fee waiver and an expedited admissions decision. All applicants are eligible for a scholarship award and housing stipend.

Eligibility

To qualify for MCL admission, applicants must have earned their first law degree (LLB or the equivalent) outside of the United States and must have earned a Master of Laws (LLM) degree or the equivalent in the U.S.

If your degree was issued by an institution located outside the United States, you must have your transcripts authenticated and evaluated by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC).

We do not require work experience or an LSAT score to be considered for admission to any of our graduate degrees. If you are applying for the MCL as USC Gould LLM student, you must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the fall semester of your LLM studies.

Application Process

To apply for admission, complete an online application through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). After you create your LSAC account, follow the instructions for applying to USC Gould.

We highly recommend that you only submit one application to the degree of most interest to you. We would be happy to consider you for one of our other degrees. Once you have submitted your application to your first-choice program, please email gipadmissions@law.usc.edu to let us know you have applied and to indicate any additional degree for which you would like to be considered.

Among the required information and documents you will submit through LSAC are:

transcripts and degree verification

a two- to three-page statement that describes your personal, academic and professional background, and your reasons for applying

a résumé or curriculum vitae

TOEFL or IELTS report (no minimum score is required)

USC's TOEFL institutional code is 4852 and the department code is 03.

Test scores are valid for two years from the date taken.

TOEFL or IELTS waivers may be granted in exceptional circumstances; if you feel you should be allowed to waive this requirement, please submit your waiver request as an attachment to your application.

Letters of recommendation are not required, but we will accept up to two letters of recommendation at gipadmissions@law.usc.edu.

Financial Statement

If you are admitted, you will be required to provide a financial statement that certifies that you have sufficient funds available to meet your living (housing, meals, etc.) and tuition expenses while at USC (unless you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or have been granted political asylum). At that time, you also must submit a copy of the photo page of your passport (and passport copies of any dependent(s) traveling with you).

Application Fee

USC Gould requires a $75 application fee, which will be waived if you apply by the priority deadline, March 1.

Application Deadlines

We are now accepting applications for the 2018-19 academic year! Students who apply by our deadline of March 1, 2018, will receive priority consideration and will receive a $75 application fee waiver. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as our Admissions Committee will provide expedited admissions decisions within 2-3 weeks for complete applications received by our priority deadline.

All applicants will be automatically considered for a scholarship award and do not need to submit any further documents to request an award. We will review and accept applications received after this date on a rolling basis until May 1, 2018.

If you are planning to take the TOEFL or IELTS exam after March 1, we highly recommend that you go ahead and submit your application (and any other completed materials) now and we will accept your test scores after you receive your official results. The Admissions Committee will make a final admissions decision upon receipt of your complete application file.

Please contact the Graduate & International Programs Office by email at gipadmissions@law.usc.edu if you have any questions about submitting your application for 2018-19. Enrollment is limited to the fall semester, which begins in August.

Application Status Check

After you submit your application through LSAC, we will send you a confirmation email that provides you with a username and password for the LSAC Online Status Check system. Then you may log in and create a new, personalized password, and periodically check your application status.

Admission Decisions

Admissions decisions are made upon receipt of complete application files. We encourage you to apply early, as our Admissions Committee expedites admissions decisions within two to three weeks for complete applications received by our priority deadline. You will be notified via email and postal mail. No admissions decisions will be released over the phone. We will contact you if the Admissions Committee feels that a telephone or an in-person interview is necessary.